Cut Class, Lose Welfare—MI’s Latest Attempt to Bail Itself Out on the Backs of the Poor
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| Get to Class, Punk (Image from Flickr, by DonkeyHotey) |
A new Michigan law (effective October 1) requires all children to be in school full time or the entire family will become ineligible to receive welfare benefits, the Detroit News reports. Furthermore, all new cash-assistance applicants will now be required to prove school enrollment for their children and good attendance in order to receive aid, while families that have lost benefits due to truancy will have to prove their child has attended school for 21 consecutive days before they can regain eligibility.
Of course it is difficult to succeed in school if you do not go to class and truancy certainly hurts
Romney’s Plan to Put More Cash In His Pockets
In a desperate (and cynical) attempt to buy last minute votes at the presidential debates last night, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney proposed an across the board income tax cut of 20% for everyone. To sweeten the deal, he said he would balance the cuts by eliminating deductions and loopholes so there would be no net loss in federal revenues.
What could be fairer or more generous?
20% might seem like a lot, and it is if you are rich. Even after the loopholes are closed, it is
Presidential Debates and Education
In a nutshell: both presidential contenders want more sticks and fewer carrots. Both want more testing and less thinking for students, more privatization, and more work and weaker unions for teachers.
Obama wants more Race to the Top (RttT), which he has mischaracterized as a grassroots initiative since states write their own grants, with their own reform proposals. However, the Obama administration has made it abundantly clear that states will not receive a penny unless they adopt the Common Core Standards (CCS), continue using high stakes exams for students and make their scores on these exams a major part of teacher evaluations, and